Many child's toys are provided with wind-up spring motors, or flywheel/friction motors which are actuated by repeatedly rapidly rolling the wheels of the toy against the floor, then letting go of the toy. Especially for those of these types of toys as are intended to roll along the ground rather than to fly through the air, powering-up the toy and letting it go requires that the child position himself or herself in close proximity to the surface on which the toy is to be released. Sometimes the child is tempted, then, to play on a table top, with the attendant possibilities that the table top may be dirtied, scuffed or scratched, and that the toy may fall off the edge and break. Or the child may get right down on the floor or on the ground, with the result that his or her clothes become dirty or torn as the child moves about on the floor or ground while absorbed in powering-up the toy, releasing it and retrieving it.